


Elucidation

by nickofhearts



Category: Final Fantasy XV, Persona 4
Genre: M/M, Noctiscest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-26
Updated: 2017-04-27
Packaged: 2018-10-24 05:34:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10735194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nickofhearts/pseuds/nickofhearts
Summary: Noctis has a conversation with his shadow. They clear a few things up.





	1. you make me this way

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dreamingcicadas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamingcicadas/gifts).



"This isn't—me," Noct said, waving his hand in a jerky motion that encompassed the whole of the twisted up Citadel, where all the paintings on the wall were of _Noctis,_ only slightly less ostentatious than the tall marble statues that were _also_ of him. One of them depicted Noct poised over an enemy, sword laid across his knees as he smirked and fisted a hand in the guy's collar, whispering something they could only guess at, but it wasn't a far stretch to assume it was something _horrible._ It seemed this Noct wasn't satisfied with merely _winning;_ he'd crush his enemies underfoot as well.

Ignis gave him an understanding look, though it was filled with pity. "You have to accept—"

"It's _not,_ " Noct insisted. The whole place made him want to scream and then throw up, a crawling sensation on his skin. 

-

He'd gotten separated from the others somehow, in the winding labyrinth passages that folded in on themselves, and Noct could _swear_ he'd walked this hall before—

He started as golden eyes suddenly met his own in a mirror, backing up immediately, but the shadow only followed him until Noct hit the wall, nowhere left to go.

It reached out to cup Noct's face in its hands. "You're so _cute,_ Noct," moving forward in slow increments that brought them closer and closer together. "I could eat you _right_ up," punctuating the statement with a hard bite to Noct's mouth, drawing blood.

Noct tried to knee it in the balls, but his shadow only danced away, laughing.

"You _are_ me, asshole," Noct yelled after it, wiping the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.

" _Am_ I?" the shadow's voice echoed. "I think _not._ "

-

Noct could still taste blood in his mouth, though somehow he was now bent over a throne that was a hundred times gaudier than the one in reality, his shadow's hands spreading his thighs wide as he fucked him in slow even strokes, whispering into his ear—"Do you hear them, Noct?" and he _did,_ a cacophony of people shouting his name, only it wasn't _his_ name, it was his shadow's, and Noct felt sick again, whining when one of his shadow's hands moved to curl over his cock, making him _like_ it.

"They love _me,_ " his shadow said. "That's what power gets you, Noct. You need only murder a few people in the public square and suddenly they're _all_ clamouring for your attention, begging your favor."

His shadow traced the shell of his ear with its horrible lying tongue. "Don't you want that too?" He laughed cruelly. "Of course you do. _I_ exist, after all." 

-

Noct couldn't stop thinking about his shadow's words, even after they'd fallen back into reality.

He _didn't_ want those things, that was ludicrous. 

But he also couldn't stop thinking about all those people shouting his name, sure it was only because they'd been _terrified_ of his shadow, but there'd been _respect_ too, and maybe—

"Noct?" Ignis asked, snapping him out of his reverie. "Are you ready to make another go of it?"

"Yeah, alright," Noct answered him, smiling, and neither of them noticed that the gleam of his eyes in the nearest reflective surface was _golden._


	2. this is love somehow

His shadow laughed, in this dream that wasn't a dream. There was fog everywhere, making him dizzy, and somewhere along the way, he'd lost all his clothes. 

"I _know_ you, Noct," his shadow was saying, pressing soft kisses to his mouth between each word. "Better than you know _yourself._ "

There was a light touch at his throat, fingers tracing down over his chest until they curled around his cock, stroking him exactly how he liked it. Noct's breath caught, trying to struggle, but he didn't have the energy to even lift a finger.

"It's alright," his shadow soothed him, still kissing Noct like there wasn't anything wrong with that. He nipped sharply at Noct's lip in the exact moment that he twisted his wrist on the end of a stroke, _just_ the way Noct did for himself, and Noct came, gasping.

"There you are," his shadow said, brushing hair out of his face. "You just want someone to love you, don't you, Noct?" 

His shadow kissed him again, and Noct didn't have it in him to resist. 

"For your _true_ self," his shadow continued, dropping more sweet little kisses over his chin, down his neck and into the hollow of his throat—"Not because you're the _prince,_ or any of those other superficial reasons everyone wants to be close to you." His shadow smiled, Noct could feel the edges of it against his skin. " _I_ love you, Noct. After all, I wouldn't _exist_ without you."

-

Noct was curled sleepily in his shadow's lap on their throne; his shadow petting his hair and murmuring nice things to him between sentencing people to death or imprisonment, depending on the severity of their crimes. People who'd slandered their name got their tongues cut out; people who'd tried to _use_ them got their heads chopped off and then mounted on the outer walls of the castle as a warning to anyone else who might consider doing the same.

Was there—something wrong with that? Noct couldn't remember.

It was so nice, and his shadow really did know exactly what he liked. Noct shifted his hips, squirming, and his shadow laughed.

"That's enough for today," his shadow said, waving at the faceless guards that stood silent and waiting at the doors. 

Noct was pulled higher in his lap, his shadow pushing two fingers easily into him, making him whine low in his throat. 

" _Greedy,_ " his shadow said, biting him on the neck where there was already a dark bruise. 

Noct whimpered.

"We'll never get anything done if I spend all day fucking you, Noct." 

Still, his shadow pulled Noct flush against him, lifting him up by the thighs and then letting him drop down on his cock, which slid into him easily with how wet he still was from earlier, when his shadow had had him on the throne before the day's audiences had even started. 

"What do you say, Noct?"

" _I love you,_ " Noct gasped out, and that felt right, as right as his shadow gripping his hips and working Noct open again on his cock, making him pant with how good it was, _all_ of it.

-

There was someone calling his name, trying to wake him up. Noct groaned, clinging tighter to his shadow, who was wrapped around him in the king-sized bed of the master suite of the palace. 

"Make them stop," Noct grumbled, burrowing further beneath the blankets.

"As you _wish,_ " his shadow answered, ducking under the blankets himself to press a lingering kiss to Noct's lips, a strange tone of _victory_ in his voice that Noct wasn't awake enough to think too hard about.


	3. i wanna be your puppet on a string

They landed in the shadow realm, but there was no sign of the twisted reflection of the Citadel from before. That was…troubling. There was _also_ no sign of Noct’s shadow, which had been taunting them the whole time they’d been wandering the maze the place had been the last time they’d been here, which was a thousand times _more_ troubling.

"Where’s the Citadel?" Prompto asked the question that was on all their minds.

"Looks like it resolved itself," Noct answered with a grin, though there was something uncomfortably _off_ about it, not quite the expression Noct usually made—

Ignis had his daggers out and aimed at Noct’s throat before anyone else could react.

"Awww, Iggy," the shadow said, and there was no doubt now that this was what it was, with the way its eyes had gone golden and glowing as it put a hand to its chest in mock offense. "You _wound_ me."

"What have you done to Noct?"

"I _am_ Noct—"

It hissed when Ignis’ dagger cut a thin line on its cheek, and the blood that oozed from the wound was also golden. "Oh, you mean _that_ sad little excuse of a prince? We talked it out and agreed that _my_ methods produce the better results by far, so _I’m_ in the driver’s seat now."

Prompto drew in a sharp breath. "Noct _wouldn’t._ "

"We want to talk to him," Ignis said evenly, watching the shadow closely as he held his daggers in place.

The shadow shrugged, eyes going hazy for a few moments as if it was reaching through somewhere else, talking to someone the rest of them couldn’t see. " _Soz,_ " it sang with a vicious little laugh when it came back. "Noct doesn’t feel like getting up."

"Why even bring us here?" Ignis asked. "Why not just carry on the charade?"

"Weeeell, you _were_ bound to figure it out eventually. I couldn’t keep pretending to be sad and pathetic forever. This way, we’re all clear on where we stand."

"And where’s that?" Gladio cut in, flexing his arms like he was preparing to beat some sense into it.

The shadow laughed. "You _could_ tell everyone about this place, about how _poor_ Prince Noctis got eaten up by his own shadow, all the selfish little desires he’d _never_ admit to anyone, but who’s going to believe you? Noct’s happy the way things are, and _so am I._ I suggest you all either get with the program, or—" It smiled, burning with red fire as its form rippled, something awful and monstrous beneath the skin that was only a facsimile of Noct—" _get gone._ "

-

"Are we really just going to let that _thing_ wear Noct’s body?" Prompto shuddered, looking over his shoulder as if Noct—or rather, his _shadow_ —would hear.

Ignis sighed. He’d been wondering the same. The thing was, most people _didn’t_ interact with Noct on a day-to-day basis, didn’t know how shy and awkward the crown prince actually was, that it only came off as aloofness to the general public because Noct hated any sort of attention. The fact that Noct was now the complete opposite of that, sauntering down the halls with a self-assured confidence and stopping to answer reporters’ questions without getting pushed around, even going so far as to flirt outlandishly with swooning fans, seemed only to them like the prince had finally deigned to take his responsibilities seriously and do as was expected of him.

No one else knew anything was amiss.

"We bide our time," Ignis finally said. There was no other option.

"Is Noct—is Noct going to be okay, though?" Prompto was biting his lip with worry. "The shadow said he _ate_ him. Noct’s not _gone,_ is he?"

"We have to trust in him, Prompto," Ignis told him, though his own worries had been keeping him up nights.

"Right," Prompto agreed hurriedly, smiling so falsely it hurt Ignis to see. "Noct will pull through. He always does."

"Certainly," Ignis affirmed, with about the same level of confidence.

-

Ardyn sauntered down the steps of Galdin Quay, stopping suddenly as he took in the entourage before him. "You’re _not_ the Chosen."

Noctis smiled, seemingly uncaring that everything had frozen in place around them, a heavy stillness in the air. "Oh? Am I not?"

"You’re nothing but a _shadow,_ " Ardyn hissed.

Noctis, surprisingly, laughed. "And what, you’re better than me because you’re _many_ shadows?"

Ardyn warped to the bottom of the steps, the skill second nature to him still no matter the length of time he’d not had a chance to use it, and closed his hand around the pretender’s throat, lifting him into the air. Noctis didn’t even struggle.

He rasped out, in that hollow echo of a voice that was particular only to shadows—"Oh, but _Ardyn,_ what _will_ you do if you murder me?"


	4. the things you could do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Redux.

_i._

Noctis ran through the hallways of the fake Citadel, places that should have been familiar turned cold and foreboding. There was the library that Ignis always dragged him to, insisting that Noct read this treatise or that on some topic of socioeconomic importance; the training halls he'd spent so many mornings in with Gladio; his own room, where Prompto had tackled him onto the bed and they'd kissed, messy and unexpectedly sweet, and Noct had actually felt _normal_ for once, not just a symbol or a token of the Kingdom of Lucis.

But here in the realm of shadows, there was only darkness and their whispers.

_Prince Noctis is a pretty face, but he doesn't have much between the ears, does he?_

_He's so fucking stuck up, does he think all commoners are beneath him?_

_I wonder if he's any good in bed...think the prince secretly gets around and that's why he's always falling asleep in class?_

_Noctis has the aptitude for his studies, he just doesn't apply himself, your majesty._

_He's a lazy ass who's never had to work a day in his life!_

_He's not good enough for Princess Lunafreya, or anyone else. Who'd want someone that just_ looks _pretty but can't measure up when the time comes to actually prove himself?_

" _Shut up!_ " Noctis yelled, covering his ears.

He huddled against a wall, shuddering. That wasn't—that _wasn't_ what his friends thought of him, he knew it wasn't, but the voices sounded just like them, and it _hurt._

"Awww," his shadow mocked him, making Noctis reach for a sword that never came to hand. "Poor Prince Noctis, can't handle a little criticism?" He smirked. "You really _are_ weak." He grabbed Noctis by the chin, leaning in close. "Might as well let _me_ take over, I'd make them all fall in line."

Noctis slapped the shadow's hand away. " _I'm nothing like you._ "

His shadow laughed, a smile too-wide and inhuman. "You're _wrong,_ Noctis. You _made_ me. You made _everything here._ " He waved a hand at the Citadel, at the whispers that still hissed behind their backs. "I'm the part of you you wish you had the _guts_ to actually be."

"You're _wrong,_ " Noctis snarled, but his words were empty, and they both knew it.

His shadow smiled even wider. "Why fight me?" he asked, pressing a kiss to Noctis' cheek, and then to his mouth, and it was even better than kissing Prompto; his shadow knew exactly what Noctis liked, what he _needed._

Noctis gasped in a sharp breath, and his shadow followed him back, pinning him hard against the wall. 

" _I_ love you," he said into Noctis' mouth. "And you know I don't tell lies."

That was wrong, Noctis knew, but he couldn't quite remember what was so wrong about it. Not with the way his shadow kept biting sharp bites at his lips, pushing a knee between Noctis' legs as he undid the zip of his jeans and got a hand on Noctis' cock, his grip too-tight and exactly right.

Noctis moaned, forgetting everything else but his shadow pressed against him, a perfect fit.

" _Yes,_ " his shadow whispered, louder than all the other voices combined. " _I'm_ the only one you need."

 

_ii._

Noctis woke up, and it was as if the whole world looked different. He finally saw people as they truly _were,_ selfish frivolous creatures that cared nothing for anyone else. Why should _he_ be any better? Why should he care for any of _them?_

Noctis smiled. 

He walked calmly through the halls of the Citadel, whistling to himself. People whispered the most interesting things when they thought they couldn't be overheard. He caught a few conversations about the failing health of the king, another couple wondering if _Noctis_ could fill his father's shoes. 

His fists clenched at his sides. So _that's_ how it was, was it?

" _Father,_ " Noctis greeted the king when he'd finally reached the audience chambers. He bent his head at an insolent angle, but that wasn't so different from usual. It was only _intent_ that differed now. The guards at the door hadn't wanted to let him in, but Noctis had persuaded them. The Crownsguard would need two fresh new recruits, but that was how these things went, wasn't it?

"Shouldn't you be in class, son?" as if going to school with the _commoners_ was something Noctis should thank him for.

"I had a more pressing matter to take care of," Noctis answered, still smiling, and then he walked up the steps to his father, arms out like he wanted to _embrace_ him.

Regis looked surprised but not unwelcoming, not one iota of suspicion on his wise old visage, and that was when Noctis pulled out a sword instead, stabbing his father through the heart. He wiped the blade clean on the crumpled body's dark stately robes before he turned to face the remainder of the court.

"I grew tired of _waiting,_ " Noctis told them, shrugging flippantly. "I _would,_ however, entertain anyone who'd like to challenge my claim." He grinned, slicing his newly clean sword through the air in a flashy little motion. " _Any takers?_ "

 

_iii._

Noctis laughed, calling fire to his fingertips. The streets of Insomnia _burned,_ and he delighted in the wreckage. Lucis was his by _right,_ and anyone that dared oppose him, that dared _whisper behind his back_ would soon find their sovereign king had a temper even greater than the flames his magic called into being.

" _Noctis!_ " one of the Kingsglaive yelled after him, their kukri flashing by and catching Noctis on the cheek.

Noctis turned with a snarl, golden eyes gleaming in the darkness. "You think you can stop me, _hero?_ " He wiped the blood away, licked it off his fingers, and _it_ was golden too, a taste sweeter than ambrosia.

"This isn't you, Noctis!" Nyx Ulric yelled, though Noctis had never spoken two words to him before, not worth his time then. 

"You don't _know_ me," Noctis hissed in reply. He met the next thrust of Nyx's blades, then breathed out ice to freeze him in his tracks. "Too _slow,_ " Noctis told him with a grin, before he slammed his own sword home, shattering the ice.

Someone was screaming in the distance, a lovely sound, like the chiming of bells.

Noctis heard his shadow laughing, and then he realized it was— _himself._


	5. (you won't, but you might)

_iv._

"I _love_ you," Noct's shadow said, trailing long pale fingertips over the bare skin of Noct's thigh.

He wore Noct's face but not his mannerisms nor his care. Every kindness came with a price. For example, he followed up of the sweetness of _that_ declaration with a bite to the curve of Noct's shoulder, sinking his teeth in.

It made Noct squirm, whining in the back of his throat.

His shadow laughed. His teeth were smeared with red. "I promised to take care of you, didn't I?" He pressed a soft kiss to the arch of Noct's cheekbone, his lips sticky with Noct's blood. "I _keep_ my promises." His next kiss fit against Noct's mouth, the heat and angle of it so good that Noct forgot about the taste of his own blood on his shadow's tongue, the horrific things they'd done together.

Noct leaned into it, wanting more. He _needed_ more.

His shadow acquiesced, shifting them so Noct could sit higher in his lap, and Noct realized they were in the throne room—the _other_ one—in the shadow realm. His and his shadow's throne here was a towering menacing thing of sharp edges and darkness, looming over all that dared enter their domain.

"Are we—dreaming?" Noct asked, curious. He didn't remember falling asleep.

His shadow chuckled, stroking knuckles against Noct's cheek. "Have you forgotten, dearest?" He pointed a finger at the window, and Noct was suddenly aware of the flames burning outside, the flames that had _never stopped._

He gasped, sitting straight up. His shadow moved with him, the expression on his face implacable. "You _wanted_ this, Noctis. Don't you remember?"

Noct struggled to push back the fog in his mind that was making his thoughts a haze.

He remembered being _angry,_ that everyone who knew nothing about him would judge him, people on the streets that had never even met him before wondering if he was fit to be _king._ Noct remembered thinking that he'd _show_ them what kind of a king he would be.

His shadow smiled. "That's right, Noctis. _We_ wanted this."

Noct leaned against him. That was right, he _had_ shown them, and the whispers in the streets were of a completely different flavour now—fearful and terrified, people screaming as they burned alive.

His shadow bit a wound on his thumb and smeared his blood over Noct's lips, sweet and golden.

Noct smiled.


	6. the potential you'll be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Redux II. (In which Noct's shadow fucks some confidence into him).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't know why i'm so obsessed with this verse lately.

_i_.

Noct's shadow wouldn't give him a moment's rest, fucking him relentlessly into the silken bedsheets of the twisted Citadel that had become the nightly backdrop of Noct's dreams. He shuddered, fingers slipping on the sheets as he tried to twist away, but his shadow had no trouble pinning him in place, resting heavily on him as he ground his cock in deeper and Noct let out a low whine, shaking apart.

" _Can't,_ " Noct bit out, sobbing breathlessly.

He'd already come once? Twice? Three times? He couldn't remember, but he was sore all over, every inch of his body covered in bruises and bitemarks his shadow had left on him, nothing untouched.

"That's your _problem,_ Noctis," his shadow said, pulling back and then thrusting all the way in again. "You don't _believe_ in yourself."

Noct writhed uselessly, broken moans filtering out of his mouth. " _Please,_ " he begged, he couldn't take any more.

His shadow sighed, then picked up the pace instead.

Noct whimpered into the sheets—his whole body felt like it was overheating, too much in too short a time, and he couldn't come again, he _couldn't,_ but his shadow seemed intent on proving him wrong.

"You _can,_ Noctis," he murmured, stroking a hand over Noct's cock in time with his thrusts into him. "You can do anything you put your mind to."

It didn't feel _good_ anymore, it felt like he was a giant bruise that his shadow kept pressing on, making the ache worse, deeper, more painful. He was crying and shaking and he couldn't even pull enough of his thoughts together to argue _back,_ he could only lie there helplessly and take it, his shadow moving his limbs around as he found a better angle to fuck Noct at, so every stroke made him shudder in awful pleasure, the kind of ache that would never leave him.

Noct's whole body seized as he came again, _finally,_ and everything faded away into darkness, the echoing sound of Noct's shadow laughing following him down into the depths.

-

Noct woke up feeling like he hadn't rested at all, even though it was full daylight already. His limbs were no better than mush, and he fell off the side of the bed when he tried to stumble to his feet.

"Ugh," Noct muttered to himself. What _had_ he been dreaming of? He could only remember cruel laughter. 

 

_ii._

Noct had been weirdly moody all week, or well, moodier than _usual,_ in any case, dark circles under his eyes like hadn't been sleeping well. He was rubbing at his head and grumbling, a newly developed habit, but then his expression suddenly sharpened as his gaze focused on Prompto.

"We're best friends, aren't we, Prom?" Noct asked.

"Y-yes?" Prompto answered, wondering where this was going. For being the prince, Noct could be oddly sensitive about some things.

Noct shrugged, looking bashful.

 _Okay?_ Prompto thought. That was weird, but that was just how Noct was sometimes. It seemed to be a byproduct of his unconventional upbringing, the way Regis had let him spend so much of his time outside the Citadel but never let him forget he was still the prince. Prompto was about to pass the whole thing off as one of those momentary oddities when Noct spoke up again, still with that too-intent gaze.

"You'd do _anything_ for me, wouldn't you, Prom?"

"Uh," Prompto said, uncomfortably aware all of a sudden of how Noct was leaning into his space—had he always been that close or had Prompto just not noticed Noct crowding up against him? He shivered, scooting back only to realize he had nowhere to go. Noct basically had him pinned against the wall.

(It had to be a trick of the light, but Prompto could swear that for a moment, Noct's eyes had flashed _gold._ )

 

_iii._

Noct was kneeling before the throne— _his throne_ —only the him that was on it was golden-eyed and cruel of tongue, lifting Noct's chin with his boot to the underside of it.

"What do you say, Noctis?" it asked.

" _Fuck you,_ " Noct spat out. He struggled with the ropes that bound his hands behind his back, but it was a fruitless endeavor as it always was in _this_ place.

The shadow laughed, sighing as it looked down at Noct through its lashes. "This again?" Its expression didn't even change as it casually swept its foot out, bloodying Noct's mouth and knocking him hard onto his side.

Noct scrambled to right himself, but his shadow was yanking him up and throwing him down on his back again, foot stepping on his chest this time.

"You say _‘please,'_ " his shadow told him, eyes gleaming. It licked its lips. "And _'thank you.'_ "

Noct's snarl in response was choked off by his shadow's foot moving to his throat, pressing just hard enough that he could still breathe but it was painful to do so. A reminder of who had all the power, _here._

"Ready to play nice then?"

His shadow let up the smallest fraction, then pressed down even harder when Noct swore at it, cutting off his air entirely. "No? More's the pity."

Noct felt his vision going dark, but it was impossible to get any leverage in his position. His shadow was still _talking,_ but Noct couldn't hear it over the roaring in his ears. It felt like a millennia later when he could suddenly breathe again, he didn't even struggle as he was pulled back on his knees; he _did_ attempt to bite down when something hard and thick was forced through his lips, cutting off his air again, but he was stopped by the fingers that were holding his jaws open. " _Mmgrphh!!_ "

"We've gone _over_ this, Noctis." His shadow had its other hand in Noct's hair, yanking on it hard enough to make tears come to his eyes. "Now play along or it'll be even _worse_ for you."


	7. the promises you'll make

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Redux III.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (with honey than vinegar)

" _I love you,_ " his shadow said, bracketing him in against the wall.

Noct shuddered into the kiss that followed with a moan, wishing he didn't _like_ hearing the words so much, that they didn't soothe an ache inside him that nothing else seemed able to touch. He opened his mouth for his shadow, letting him deepen the kiss, curl against Noct until he couldn't tell where he ended and his shadow began.

His shadow smiled, nuzzling his cheek against Noct's, tangling fingers in Noct's hair. "I'll _always_ love you, Noctis," he promised, and Noct couldn't help the way he went weak all over at the words, the _surety_ of them, the way his shadow required nothing in return.

-

His shadow was always waiting for him when Noct fell asleep, tugging Noct into his lap for sweet kisses that he pressed to Noct's face, fluttering touches of his lips that made Noct shiver all over.

"please," Noct murmured softly, "will you—?"

" _I love you,_ " his shadow told him, with such strength of conviction that it made Noct melt against him, tilting his face up for more kisses, for his shadow to whisper again in his ear—" _I love you, Noctis._ "

Noct didn't ever want to wake up.

-

It was all he needed at the end of a long day, his shadow's arms around him and his voice in Noct's ear, telling him he _loved_ him with no price tag on the words. Noct found his eyes closing in the afternoons, to catch just a few moments with his shadow, and it was always so _good,_ so nice to be held close and _adored._

-

He knew it was wrong, that shadows were supposed to be the worst parts of you all wrapped up in a vicious little package ready to devour you whole, but Noct _needed_ his shadow more than anything else in the world.

He wondered if one day the kisses wouldn't be quite so nice, if his shadow would bite down instead of taking Noct sweetly in his arms and comforting him with all the warmth that he could never find outside of the dreams, but he also found he didn't exactly care.

His _shadow_ was welcome to anything he wanted.


End file.
